Transcripts For CSPAN Syrian Dissidents Supporters Talk To Press Following Foreign Relations... 20240713

Following the Senate Foreign hearing, committee befor witnesses and director m. Night joined the witnesses at a press conference. [indiscernible conversations] all, for being here and for your interest. I am the executive director of the Syrian Emergency Task force. We are an organization that does humanitarian work, political work and legal work. Ourre proud to have organization an amazing family and m. Night shyamalan, caesar and omar, who play an Important Role in the work that we are doing. Kikoler is at the center for prevention event prevention of genocide at the u. S. Holocaust museum. The museum has been an amazing resource and ally to innocent civilians in syria, taking trips to the region and back to shine a light on atrocities. Left is the cohead of the m. Night shyamalan foundation. They have visited the borders and met with victims, medical workers, detainees, chemical weapons survivors. Their foundation has played a key role in helping evacuate a Womens Center and a school for saving their lives. They have been and incredible an incredible supporter of both caesar and omar. And the head of the White Helmets testified today, and campaign. Ber of the i think the best way to do this is maybe everyone can do a quick Opening Statement and then we will open it up for questions. Signaled to me, and i will let you know. Ok. [speaking foreign language] translator i would like to thank the syrian organizations in the u. S. And the Syrian Community and the diaspora and u. S. Holocaust Memorial Museum to make it possible for us to talk about what is happening in idlib, and practical steps that can be taken to alleviate suffering there. We run a foundation where we support leaders from around the world that are doing Grassroots Efforts to alleviate conditions in their communities. Mouaz is our leader, and we came across him through the holocaust museum. You are seeing remembering happening on what those actions can do in real time, to save lives right now by remembering what happened and making sure it doesnt happen again. They are small links in that chain [indiscernible] humbled to be here among people that are really moving the needle and making a difference. This is a neveragain moment but it is happening presently, and it is a moment where we can actually do something about it. And seeing the tenacity of mouaz and everybody here to bring some sort of justice to the Syrian People is very moving. And it just takes a constant effort, and they have been doing that. Momentbe here at this at the senate then have them hear the story and take it in is a tremendous achievement. A tremendous day, and very humbled to be here. Prison, a lot of people died to give me an opportunity to survive, especially a guy who was killed after they took me outside the room in the prison. And all of those people who died for me, their souls are still inside of me. And that is why i will keep talking. I will keep doing. I know people in syria and even people outside syria, they are tired of just hearing talk and speeches. But it is our right to go to action. So i will do my best all the time. To haveas been amazing the support of these kind of people around me, who never get tired of what they are doing. And i ask every human being to us by just listening to the story, or maybe just helping your neighbor who may be a refugee from syria, iraq, any country, care a little bit more. That is what we need, people to care. To senators, i talked to them as human beings before senators, because i want them to care as people, not only as a senate person. Of all, sincere gratitude to the u. S. Holocaust Memorial Museum into the m. Night shyamalan foundation, and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for the incredible work that they did. The Senate Foreign committee Foreign Relations Committee Staff and chairman shift and senator menendez and chairman risch and senator menendez. At least half a Million People have been murdered. The u. N. Stopped counting after 400,000. 14 Million People are displaced in syria, between refugees and internally displaced. That is more than half the population of syria. By conservative estimates, 215,000 individuals, men, women, children and elderly, are being held right now as we stand here today in the worst dungeons possible, being tortured in the most sadistic ways that some of us, even hollywood, cant even imagine. This lady right here is an amazing young lady. Her crime was providing baby formula and medicine to internallydisplaced individuals in damascus. She was arrested. She didnt think her crime meant that she would be executed. I spoke to her cellmate, and her cellmate told me that while she was in jail, she was a Civil Engineering student debt would draw up plans how she would rebuild buildings and neighborhoods destroyed by iran, hoping she would one day get out and carry out that dream. It is individuals like this, real stories, that we must stand for. Today, almost 4 Million People in an evertricking space, with a closed border, a wall that stops them from going anywhere, it is like shooting fish in a bucket that keeps getting smaller. The russian air force, a romneybacked militia, hezbolla h, have one plan for 4 Million People, death, displacement or detention. It is the right thing to save their lives. But if we are not doing it for our values as americans, and want to merely do it for National Interest and National Security, it is the right thing to save their lives, so we can be safer here and our allies in europe dont see another million refugees going over there, and extremists dont have propaganda to continue to pull out to put out their radical ideology. So think of idlib. And i want to add a camp that is forgotten in southern syria. Internally displaced people have lived in that desert because the desert is next to an american garrison. They tell me every day that because of god first, and because of american servicemen and women second that i was stationed there, they are alive today. It is an american base, and the syrian Partner Forces that keep isis and iran and russia from coming and either detaining or forcibly conscripting these 15,000 refugees, so for the camp, for idlib and for the detainees, please try to get their voice out as much as possible, because it is the right thing to do and good for our National Interests here at home. Statesthe united Holocaust Memorial newseum, it has been a profound honor. And it is with immense remorse that we have to stand here today , during the 10th year, putting a spotlight on horrific atrocities committed by the assad regime. We are humbled daily by the remarkable here heroes we are privileged to work with and have their voices heard around the world. The red helma or received our highest award for their courage received ourts highest award for their courage. Are doing lifesaving work the International Community is not doing. People like omar, who had 15 have had their entire life shattered and has since become an unbelievable champion for the 400,000 people who are in detention, caesar, who cant stand here today to speak for himself with his face shone because his life is at risk, because of courageous act he did, for us, they are modernday heroes. We talk a lot at the museum about trying to do for communities today what was not done for jews during the holocaust. Tragically, we enter the 10th year. We know that it is not a matter of a lack of information. U. S. Global criminal justice ambassador has done remarkable work on the syrian cases and says there is no case out there that has been more documented, where we have as much information to point to the veracity of the War Crimes Commission as we do in syria. We are here today because of a lack of political will, will to make difficult decisions that will help save lives. I would like to thank the remarkable heroes that we have the privilege to work with. I would like to thank the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the staff of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for your persistent leadership on this issue, and i hope we see the implementation of the caesar act. Thank you. Questions,e has maybe just introduce yourself and who you are going to ask. Thank you so much for doing this. Sanctions,esar syria assuming the administration implements them, you know assad is unlikely to go anywhere and unlikely to make the concessions the bill calls for to lift the sanctions. So i am interested in getting the longterm path for reconstruction in syria, with assad still in power under the sanctions. What is the best balance between reconstruction of the wartorn country and Holding Assad accountable . First of all, the caesar act needs to be implemented asap. Offocuses on the protection civilians and sanctions were criminals, and when it comes to sanctions, they are not arbitrary because we dont want to see syria reconstructed. The people from idlib are not just from idlib, they are from all these places the regime controls now. He and russia destroyed their rubble, andled to it has not just been killing and displacing them, it has been a project of demographic change in syria because the assad regime wants to get rid of the old population and anyone who has opposed them and put in people who may be loyalists to him. So for the United States and International Community to give money to help rebuild assad regime areas, to build homes on top of the homes of the 14 million displaced, the millions in europe that can never return, would be a disservice. Because it means the refugees property is taken away after being destroyed and it will be given to others loyal to the regime. So even when it comes to is more about, it ensuring there isnt ethnic cleansing and people can come back to their homes. It is putting another obstacle in the face of the assad regime. We documented two years ago in a report called the worst is yet to come, that it is difficult for people displaced to return home without fear of being detained. Ample reports have shown people who have returned home, even under the promise that we have security, have actually been taken, arrested, placed in the same type of detention omar talked about. The fear of detention, which existed before the crisis 10 years ago, is a major deterrent why a lot of people will simply not go home, even if you should have reconstruction. We have to understand there are multiple layer sent threats to civilians that persist. Reconstruction of syria while assad is still in power is like building a new prison with a new wall for the people, because if assad is still in power, it doesnt matter what the country looks like. Problem is with the regime, with the detentions. The problem is not with the buildings, rebuilding the country or rebuilding the homes buried the problem is the regime. The first step is taking the regime from power, then rebuild the country. I wanted to ask about National Level prosecutions that are happening in europe, and obstacles russia and perhaps china pose at the un security referral. R an itc Ranking Member menendez talked about the lack of a list of potential targets for prosecution. Is that something organizations are working on compiling, does it exist but hasnt been transmitted . Go ahead. The caesar photos are almost 55,000 photos. We have numbers and faces and have only identified a few hundred individuals from those photos. If someone had a dual nationality, we were able to open a case there. If we have a perpetrator that is potentially somewhere, we can open a case there. We have universal jurisdiction. In germany a couple have been arrested. , with our taskly force and caesar team, working to identify war criminals and those that remain in syria committing these crimes, because an arrest warrant for them is a deterrent for them, and the others we can catch, it is important to catch. There is no question that there is a long, long list from one of the organizations we work with, a million pages of documentation that explains what doing in this business of picking up 200,000 people and torturing them to death. We now have the ability to search 2 doing in this business of million names. That material and other material is being consolidated by the mechanism in geneva which provides a forum for pulling it altogether, verifying it, figuring out that everything is accurate. And this is enabling cases to be made in certain countries. There is a case now beginning in germany, of a person who was in charge of torture in general intelligence in damascus, in and his, a colonel, subordinate. The trial begins april 23. They were individuals involved in the caesar photos that actually show people they tortured. And that has been possible because they came to germany. There are other people in europe, a highlevel people in vienna we help to prosecute, a general. Others are out there. They can be prosecuted. And then there is the ability, like we described if you have a dual national, the french have relied on that. Got a warrant for the head of the National Security bureau, the most powerful person under assad. What has happened in those cases is because they have victims who were french nationals that were tortured to death, they have jurisdiction. We have jurisdiction in the United States in the case of marie cole and, as u. S. Citizen murdered, as found here in the u. S. By a u. S. District court case. Against be a court case the brother of the president of syria, who actually rewarded the guy that killed her. These cases need to be built and they can be built here and elsewhere. Bringing people into custody may be difficult, but as senators were saying, for the rest of their lives, they are going to be afraid if they travel anywhere that theyre going to be arrested. And that is an important signal to send. Documentation that caesar provides on the White Helmets and others, is making it possible to have accountability even when the russians blocked the security council. Survivors will not stop seeking justice. In this past week, we see someone in their 90s being investigated for possibly having committed crimes during the holocaust. That is an Important Message we are trying to convey by supporting omars work and n moaez. Any other questions . Add is our journey into this conversation. Under a misunderstanding, we go around and visit leaders and give grants to people all around the world and we said syria, forget it, not getting involved. Too complicated. We are not going to give our grant money there. That was my kneejerk reaction, and that came from our president came from our prejudice, and american prejudice that i cant control that end we shouldnt giving our money to something as volatile as a civil war. I already bought into the story that was told by assad that it was a civil war. And that is what i do, storytelling. And that is how we join forces and make our tribes and a story we tell each other. And in reality, what i have that itfrom everyone is is genocide masking as a civil war and being used for political purposes. And when we look at it like that and see caesars words and omars words on the White Helmets and everything they are doing, you concede that underneath all the false stories, it is genocide. Notave to act accordingly, like my kneejerk reaction saying, its a complicated civil war. It byd of instigated inspiring some kids to put democracy up on a wall, and then they got arrested and tortured and we kind of helped this go along by saying freedom and you can rule for yourself and individuals matter, we inspired some kids in syria and then all of this started. So we just have to back up what we stand for. I want to give an example of the kind of story that is being told. When we went to turkey, we were dealing with a lot of people who had been victims of chemical attacks, or whose families had been victims of the chemical attacks, and at the same time on television, american news, there was assad claiming there were no chemical attacks. So that is just part of the coverup that is happening. Questions of anyone here . [speaking foreign language] translator i just would like to say that this time, we are lucky enough to be here. We were able to make it and be here as part of this hearing to have the voices of the people inside syria heard, but in future days and months we might not be here to convey that voice. So we count on all of you and the free people in america and around the world to be that voice for the people facing the s iny oppression and horror syria. [speaking foreign language] translator our struggle now is not just a struggle against unbelievable atrocities. It is also a struggle for the truth, and a struggle for our voice and the voices of the Syrian People to be heard, and for the Free Movement of people who can speak on their behalf, which has also been severely limited. [speaking foreign language] translator and so we ask all of you, and we call on every american, everyone who believes in human rights, to be the voices of those people, those people who are dying underneath the collapsed buildings after airstrikes, those people who are dying under chemical weapons, who are dying in detention centers, who are dying from all the most disgusting were crimes being committed on earth, for the 4 Million People crammed into a very small area, suffering unimaginable daily struggles in idlib. We ask that you be their voice and remind the world of the unimaginable horrors that they face. See what is going on in syria as a civil war. It is a war between people asking for freedom and a regime that is killing them. Wen isis appeared in syria, could see every country on earth wanting to spend billions of dollars to kill everybody there, the isis guys. I understand you count isis as terrorists, but you dont count al assad as a terrorist while he whilemillions of people isis kills 50 or 100 people. We have to count him as a terrorist so we can get governments and the International Community to move, to do something. Assad is a terrorist. What makes him different from isis . Nothing. He is killing. Both are brutal. Wehave to stop both of them, have to seize the head of the snake, we have to cut the head off as soon as possible. Otherwise we dont know what is going to happen. And to conclude, unless there are more questions, on behalf of the Syrian Emergency Task force and our team, omar, caesar, our staff, i want to thank the senate, i want to thank naomi, i want to think the White Helmets for their powerful testimony and i want to thank m. Night shyamalan and the m. Night shyamalan foundation, because at a time when so many people turned away, they never left us and keep standing by the american people. I want to announce that today at the atrium of the Congressional Visitors Center at 2 00 p. M. , we will be having an event that includes another powerful speech by are by omar, a word , a speech by caesar and members of the senate, and another holocaust survivor will be speaking at 2 00 p. M. In the atrium in the Congressional Visitors Center. Thank you, all, so much for your time and attention. Thank you. [applause]